| 项目编号: | 1643550
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| 项目名称: | Formation and Characteristics of Brine-rich Water in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
| 作者: | Ronald Sletten
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| 承担单位: | University of Washington
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| 批准年: | 2017
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| 开始日期: | 2017-08-15
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| 结束日期: | 2020-07-31
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| 资助金额: | 208488
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| 资助来源: | US-NSF
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| 项目类别: | Standard Grant
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| 国家: | US
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| 语种: | 英语
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| 特色学科分类: | Geosciences - Polar
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| 英文关键词: | water activity
; salt
; water
; mdv
; widespread shallow brine-rich water
; several groundwater feature
; pervasive brine-rich groundwater
; brine-rich
; enough water
; temperature
; model
; brine-rich groundwater
; unique water environment
; groundwater formation
; antarctic mcmurdo dry valleys
|
| 英文摘要: | This study aims to better understand salt accumulation in cold deserts and develop a model of salt transport by groundwater. Cold deserts, like the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), are similar to hot deserts in that they accumulate high concentrations of salts because there is not enough water to flush the salts out of the soils into the ocean. The accumulation of salt allows for the creation of brine-rich groundwater that freezes at much lower temperatures. Field work will focus on several groundwater features in the MDV including Don Juan Pond, a shallow lake that accumulates extremely high levels of salts and does not freeze until the temperature reaches -51 degrees C (-60 degrees F). The setting offers the potential to better understand this unique water environment including life at its extremes. It also serves as an analog environment for Mars, a planet that is entirely underlain by permafrost, similar to the MDV. This project will support a doctoral student at the University of Washington Department of Earth and Space Sciences, who will be trained in chemical analysis, chemical and physical modeling, and remote field work in a polar desert environment.
Past research suggests that the movement of soluble ions in sediment and soil is controlled by the water activity, permeability, and the thermal regime; however, processes controlling the ionic redistribution in Antarctic environments are poorly constrained. This project aims to better understand the formation, salt redistribution, and water activity of pervasive brine-rich groundwater that is enriched in calcium chloride. A primary goal is to develop a brine thermal;reactive;transport model for the MDV region using data collected from the field to constrain model inputs and ground-truth model outputs. The model will develop a Pitzer-type thermodynamic, reactive transport model and couple it to a ground temperature model. The model will test mechanisms of groundwater formation in the MDV and the properties (e.g. composition, temperature, and water activity) of widespread shallow brine-rich waters. Water is an essential ingredient for life and defining processes that control the availability of water is critical for understanding the habitability of extreme environments, including Mars. |
| 资源类型: | 项目
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| 标识符: | http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/89357
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| Appears in Collections: | 全球变化的国际研究计划
科学计划与规划
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| Recommended Citation: | |
Ronald Sletten. Formation and Characteristics of Brine-rich Water in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica. 2017-01-01.
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